Laser-initiated photo-targeting have shown tremendous potential for applications such as, for example, cancer therapy, gene delivery, imaging, and on-demand drug delivery. However, light (e.g., in the ultra-violet (UV)-visible spectral range) potentiates damage to biological subjects such as, for example, cellular organelles, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and proteins. Moreover, UV-visible wavelength does not penetrate deeply enough into tissues or organs in-vivo due to high scattering and absorption.
Recently, near-infrared region (NIR) light has been experimented for several biological applications due to advantages such as minimal absorption, minimal scattering, and deeper penetration in-vivo. NIR light beams with different energy levels (i.e., wavelengths) applied for various duration of time have been used to investigate different biological functions and processes such as, for example, stimulation of light-sensitive polymers, in-vitro microinjection of single cells (requiring low-energy NIR radiation for as little as femtoseconds) and cancer therapy (requiring NIR irradiation for more than 15 minutes).